Crews work to restore power, make progress

Georgia Power has completed restoring electric service to 99 percent of affected customers in Metro Atlanta as of noon Friday.

The company maintains earlier estimates that service will be restored to 95 percent of affected customers outside of the Metro Atlanta area, including heavily impacted areas south of Metro Atlanta and along Interstate 20, by or before midnight Saturday.

The severe weather, which began impacting service to Georgia Power customers around 12:15 a.m. on Wednesday, caused approximately 701,000 outages to customers across the state.

"Our men and women have faced one of the most disruptive storms in
our history - we're extremely proud of their tireless efforts to get
service restored to customers as soon as possible," said Paul Bowers,
president and CEO of Georgia Power. "We want to thank our customers for
their patience as we have worked around the clock to remove hundreds of
fallen trees and branches, and repair lines damaged by ice and snow. We
are committed to restoring power to all of our customers as quickly and
safely as possible."

The buzz of a generator is the sound of J Altman and his neighbors staying warm.

"We worked together with my neighbor to get the power, get the generator running and we've got power running to him and we've got cords to my house and to his which is two houses up the street," Altman explained.

The power to his Riverdale neighborhood had been out since Tuesday.

"Some people left. Those that were left here, we sort of banded together really. We've just been chopping wood and hunkering down," Altman said.

Tree removal and power crews found their way to his neighborhood late Thursday, offering hope. It's what they gave Jovall Robinson earlier in the day.

"It's a nice thing right about now, put a smile on my face when I seen them this morning," Robinson said.

He found his own way to beat the cold.

"I have still on my top stove and lit my top stove and had to stay warm like that and with a blanket and quilts," Robinson said.

Approximately 8,000 Georgia Power employees, contractors and personnel
providing emergency assistance through a mutual assistance network
worked together in the aftermath of the storm to restore power.

People in the neighborhood gathered to see Gulf Power at work. They, along with thousands of others, were brought in to assist Georgia Power. The crews had to remove the tree before they could repair the lines. And just like that, six or so hours late, the porch light was back on.

As of noon Friday, 97,000 active outages remained throughout the
state.

For those still in the dark, cold and frustrated, Altman offers this piece of advice:

"It's madness. The limbs that are down, the stuff that Georgia Power has to go through, it's not like they just ride into the neighborhood and put things back together. I mean there's some clearing that has to be done, so the best thing people can do is stay patient," Altman said.

If customers have a concern about electric wires entering their homes or businesses, they should contact Georgia Power for assistance coordinating necessary repairs. Customer service can be reached at (888) 660-5890.

Outgoing Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed has given mayoral candidate Mary Norwood 48 hours to apologize after she claimed voter intimidation in the December 5 run-off election between her and Keisha Lance Bottoms.

Outgoing Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed has given mayoral candidate Mary Norwood 48 hours to apologize after she claimed voter intimidation in the December 5 run-off election between her and Keisha Lance Bottoms.